Earlier in the Day:

It was a busy start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Kiwi Dollar, the Japanese Yen, and the Aussie Dollar were in action this morning. Economic data from China was also in focus.

For the Kiwi Dollar

Building consents and business confidence figures drew attention this morning as New Zealand looks to curb the latest COVID-19 outbreak.

Building consents had a relatively muted impact on the Kiwi Dollar this morning.

In July, consents rose by 2.10% month-on-month, following a 4.0% increase from June.

The ANZ Business Confidence Index fell from -3.8 to -14.2 in August. In spite of the decline, the Kiwi held on to early gains.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.70225 to $0.70207 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was up by 0.53% to $0.70326.

For the Japanese Yen

Industrial production was the key stat of the morning for the Yen. Production fell by 1.50% in July, versus a forecasted 2.5% slide. In June, production had jumped by 6.5%.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry,

Industries that mainly contributed to the decrease were in the following order:

• Motor vehicles.

• Electrical machinery, and information and communication electronics equipment.

• Inorganic and organic chemicals.

Industries that mainly contributed to the increase were in the following order:

• Production machinery.

• Pulp, paper, and paper products.

• Electronic parts and devices.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥109.943 to ¥109.931 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was up by 0.05% to ¥109.868 against the U.S Dollar.

Out of China

Private sector PMI numbers were the key stats of the morning.

In August, the NBS Non-Manufacturing PMI fell from 53.3 to 47.5, with the Manufacturing PMI declining from 50.4 to 50.1. Economists had forecast for the manufacturing PMI to slip to 50.2.

The Aussie Dollar moved from $0.72797 to $0.72932 upon release of the figures that preceded private sector credit numbers from Australia.

For the Aussie Dollar

Private sector credit was the main area of focus.

In July, private sector credit rose by 0.7%, following a 0.9% increase in June.

According to the RBA,

• Housing credit rose by 0.6%, with business credit up by 1.1%. In June, housing credit had been up by 0.7%, with business credit up by 1.1%.

• Personal credit fell further, however. Following a 0.7% decline in June, personal credit declined by 1.0%.

• Year-on-year, however, total credit was up 4.0%. In June, total credit had been up by 2.4%.

Other stats included current account and building approval numbers that had a muted impact on the Aussie Dollar.